9 handy Apple Watch features you might have missed

The Apple Watch has been described by some (often Android fanatics), as a glorified wrist-mounted notification centre. Burn.

But, there are some very practical ways you can make the Apple Watch work for you, some of which are more obvious than others.

We've rounded up some features which we've found to be unexpectedly useful, so give them a whirl and silence the mocking cries of those Google fanboys, if you can.

Find your iPhone

Have a miniature panic attack when you can't find your iPhone? Yeah, us too, and it feels even worse when you know you left it on silent. Well, that Apple Watch you always put on first thing in the morning can help you ping it for easier tracking.

Do this: Swipe up from your Watch face to pull up Glances. Swipe to the leftmost one and tap on the bottom left icon. Even if your phone is on silent, it will still emit a lovely scream, pointing you in the right direction.

And if you’re looking for it in a dark room, tap and hold the same icon for both sound and light guidance via its flashing LED lights. Rave on.

Track other exercises

Not all exercises are created equal, and not everyone likes going running or cycling. What about trampolining? What about rock climbing? Thanks to its sensors, the Apple Watch can measure the calories you've burned when you're bouncing around at the trampoline park.

Do this: Until specialist apps are developed, you can always go to the Workout app on your Watch and choose between the three modes: how many calories you want to burn, how long you plan to do your alternative activity for, or you can just choose to freestyle it completely.

Now we just need Apple Watch 2.0 to be waterproof so we can take it swimming. And wakeboarding. And paddleboarding. And white water rafting. And cliff diving. Yeah, we totally do all of those things.

Silence your phone

Don’t be that person who forgets to put their phone in silent mode during a movie. But if you ever end up as that person, you won’t have to panic and start digging around in your bottomless bag for your iPhone. Instead, you can casually mute your iPhone from your Apple Watch instead.

Do this: Just cover your Watch with your hand when it starts ringing. You can of course decline the call from your Watch, or you could buy yourself some time by muting it first then waiting till you’ve made it into the safety of the toilet before you take the call.

Just make sure Cover to Mute is enabled in your iPhone. You'll find it in Sounds & Haptics within your Apple Watch app.